Systems and methods for remote patient monitoring

ABSTRACT

A system includes a local patient monitor and a plurality of remote patient monitors. The local patient monitor may display a plurality of physiological parameters for a local patient. The local patient monitor may further display a remote monitoring interface with the local patient&#39;s physiological parameters. The remote monitoring interface may include a plurality of status icons respectively representing the plurality of remote patient monitors. In one embodiment, the local patient monitor receives alarm information from a first remote patient monitor indicating that one or more physiological parameters for a remote patient are outside of a determined range. The alarm information may include, for example, location information for the remote patient and an alarm condition indicated by the one or more physiological parameters. The local patient monitor may display the alarm information within the remote monitoring interface.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.12/646,487, filed Dec. 23, 2009, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORREMOTE PATIENT MONIOTRING,” which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to patient monitors.

BRIEF SUMMARY

A system according to one embodiment includes a local patient monitorand a plurality of remote patient monitors. The local patient monitormay display a plurality of physiological parameters for a local patient.The local patient monitor may further display a remote monitoringinterface with the local patient's physiological parameters. The remotemonitoring interface may include a plurality of status iconsrespectively representing a remote monitoring status for each of theplurality of remote patient monitors.

In one embodiment, the local patient monitor receives alarm informationfrom a first remote patient monitor indicating that one or morephysiological parameters for a remote patient are outside of adetermined range. The alarm information may include, for example,location information for the remote patient, as well as an alarmcondition indicated by the one or more physiological parameters. Thelocal patient monitor may display the alarm information within theremote monitoring interface.

Additional aspects will be apparent from the following detaileddescription, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a patient monitoring system according toone embodiment.

FIG. 2 graphically illustrates an alarm configuration interfaceaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 3 graphically illustrates a patient parameter interface accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 4 graphically illustrates a remote monitoring interface accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 5 graphically illustrates a remote monitoring configurationinterface according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 6A-6C graphically illustrate the remote monitoring interface ofFIG. 4 displaying alarm information received from one or more remotepatient monitors.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method for remote patient monitoringaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a patient monitoring system according toone embodiment.

FIG. 9 depicts a patient monitoring system including a patient parameterinterface according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Patient monitors are used to analyze and display physiologicalparameters obtained from sensors attached to a patient. Thephysiological parameters may include, for example, pulse rate,temperature, respiration rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen,electrocardiogram, etc. Often, patient monitors are configured to notifyan attending doctor or nurse (hereafter “medical practitioner”) if theparameters exceed a limit or are outside of a particular range. Forexample, if the patient monitor detects that the patient's bloodpressure is too low or too high, it may generate a visual and/or audiblealarm.

In most hospitals, a medical practitioner is responsible for severalpatients, who are often in different rooms or wards. Accordingly, it isdifficult or impossible for a single medical practitioner to bephysically present at every patient monitor to notice the alarms. Simplybroadcasting alarms among a group of networked patient monitors is not acomplete solution. For example, the medical practitioner might not beaware that a remote patient monitor has malfunctioned or becomedisconnected and is no longer transmitting alarms. No solution currentlyexists for providing a medical practitioner with a complete view of thealarm status of remote patient monitors. These and other problems areaddressed by the present disclosure.

In one embodiment, a local patient monitor may display a plurality ofphysiological parameters for a local patient. In addition, the localpatient monitor may display a remote monitoring interface along with thelocal patient's physiological parameters. The remote monitoringinterface may include a plurality of status icons respectivelyrepresenting a plurality of remote patient monitors.

Each status icon may graphically indicate a remote monitoring status ofa respective remote patient monitor. For example, one status icon mayindicate that an active connection exists between the local patientmonitor and the corresponding remote patient monitor. Another statusicon may indicate that alarm information is being blocked at the sourceby the corresponding remote patient monitor. Yet another status icon mayindicate that no signal is being received by the corresponding remotepatient monitor. Still another status icon may indicate that display ofalarm information from a corresponding remote patient monitor is locked,i.e., cannot be blocked at the local patient monitor except by a personwith particular access rights. As described in greater detail below,various combinations of the foregoing may be indicated by the statusicons in the remote monitoring interface.

In one embodiment, the local patient monitor may receive alarminformation from a first remote patient monitor indicating that one ormore physiological parameters for a remote patient are outside of adetermined range. The alarm information may include, for example,location information (e.g., bed or room number) for the remote patient,as well as an alarm condition (e.g., tachycardia) indicated by one ormore physiological parameters. The local patient monitor may display thealarm information within the remote monitoring interface, optionallyoverlaying some or all of the status icons.

In one embodiment, the displayed alarm information fills substantiallyall of the remote monitoring interface. However, in certain instances,the local patient monitor may receive alarm information from a secondremote patient monitor while it is displaying alarm information from thefirst remote patient monitor in the remote monitoring interface. In sucha case, the remote monitoring interface may be divided betweendisplaying the alarm information from the first and second patientmonitors (e.g., each may fill substantially half of the remotemonitoring interface). In the case of the local patient monitorreceiving alarm information from a third patient monitor, the remotemonitoring interface may be divided between displaying alarm informationfrom the first, second, and third patient monitors (e.g., each may fillsubstantially a third of the remote monitoring interface).

In one configuration, the remote monitoring interface may display anotification that alarm information from more than a determined numberof remote patient monitors (e.g., three or more) has been received, andmay allow the user to selectively display alarm information that cannotbe simultaneously displayed in the remote monitoring interface due tolack of space. The remote monitoring interface may also display anindication of whether alarm information from the local patient monitoris being sent to one or more remote patient monitors.

The embodiments of the disclosure will be best understood by referenceto the drawings, wherein like elements are designated by like numeralsthroughout. In the following description, numerous specific details areprovided for a thorough understanding of the embodiments describedherein. However, those of skill in the art will recognize that one ormore of the specific details may be omitted, or other methods,components, or materials may be used. In some cases, operations are notshown or described in detail in order to avoid obscuring more importantaspects of the disclosure.

Furthermore, the described features, operations, or characteristics maybe combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. It willalso be readily understood that the order of the steps or actions of themethods described in connection with the embodiments disclosed may bechanged as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, anyorder in the drawings or detailed description is for illustrativepurposes only and is not meant to imply a required order, unlessspecified to require an order.

Embodiments may include various steps, which may be embodied inmachine-executable instructions to be executed by a general-purpose orspecial-purpose computer or other electronic device. Alternatively, thesteps may be performed by hardware components that include specificlogic for performing the steps or by a combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware.

Embodiments may also be provided as a computer program product includinga computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that maybe used to program a computer or other electronic device to perform theprocesses described herein. The computer-readable medium may include,but is not limited to: hard drives, floppy diskettes, optical disks,CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or opticalcards, solid-state memory devices, or other types ofmedia/computer-readable medium suitable for storing electronicinstructions.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of a patientmonitoring system 100 according to one embodiment. The patientmonitoring system 100 may include a plurality of patient monitors 122,124, 126, which analyze and display physiological parameters, such aspulse rate, temperature, respiration rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen,electrocardiogram, and the like. The patient monitors 122, 124, 126 maybe configured to communicate with each other through a network 128, suchas a hospital's local area network (LAN) or the Internet.

In certain embodiments, a patient monitor (e.g., patient monitor 122)may be connected to the network 128 through a docking station 130, 132.The docking station 130, 132 may allow the patient monitor 122 to beeasily removed and transported between different locations in a hospitalor other medical facility. In the example embodiment of FIG. 1, thepatient monitor 122 may be configured to be selectively coupled with,and selectively decoupled from, any of the respective docking stations130, 132.

For illustrative purposes, the patient monitor 122 is shown as beingcoupled to docking station 130. In certain embodiments, the dockingstations 130, 132 provide the respective patient monitor 122 with powerand/or a connection to the network 128. Accordingly, the docking station130 is illustrated as including a power interface 133 and a networkinterface 134. The power interface 133 may be configured to convert analternating current (AC) power signal to a direct current (DC) powersignal and/or provide power signal conditioning for the coupled patientmonitor 122. The network interface 134 may include, for example, anEthernet communication controller to allow the coupled patient monitor122 to communicate to the network 128 through the docking station 130.The network interface 134 may be associated with an identifying address,such as media access control (MAC) address.

In certain embodiments, the docking station 130 may also include amemory device 136. The memory device 136 may include non-volatile randomaccess memory (RAM) that provides addressable storage and may be used incertain embodiments to store configuration data, historical patientparameter data, or the like.

The patient monitor 122, according to the example embodiment illustratedin FIG. 1, includes a processor 140, a display device 142, a memorydevice 144, a communication device 146, a power module 148, a parameteracquisition unit 150, a user interface unit 152, and an alarm unit 154.The processor 140 is configured to process patient data signals receivedthrough the parameter acquisition unit 150 and to display the patientdata signals (e.g., as waveforms and/or numerical values) on the displaydevice 142. The parameter acquisition unit 150 receives the patient datasignals from one or more sensors attached to a patient (not shown). Theparameter acquisition unit 150 may be configured to process the acquiredpatient data signals in cooperation with the processor 140. The patientmonitor 122 may store the patient data signals in the memory device 144along with other data. For example, the patient monitor 122 may store acurrent set of configuration settings in the memory device 144.

In one embodiment, the communication device 146 is configured tocommunicate with the network 128 through the network interface 134 ofthe docking station 130, or directly if no docking station 130 isavailable. For example, in certain embodiments, the communication device146 may be configured to wirelessly communicate with the network 128when the patient monitor 122 is not coupled to any of the dockingstations 130, 132. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the patient monitor 124automatically establishes a wireless communication link 156 with thenetwork 128 as a user transports the patient monitor 124 between dockingstations 130, 132.

The power module 148 receives a power signal from the power interface133 of the docking station 130. The power module 148 provides anynecessary power conversions and distributes power throughout the patientmonitor 122. The power module 148 may include a battery that is chargedthrough the power interface 133 while the patient monitor 122 is coupledto the docking station 130.

The user interface unit 152, in cooperation with the processor 140 andthe display device 142, may be configured to process and format theacquired physiological parameters for display in a graphical userinterface (GUI). As described in greater detail below, the userinterface unit 152 may also be configured to display physiologicalparameters from another monitor via a remote monitoring interface (notshown).

The alarm unit 154 may be configured to generate audible and/or visualalarms when physiological parameters for a local patient are outside ofa determined range. As described in greater detail below, the alarm unit154 may also be configured to receive alarm information from one or moreremote patient monitors. The alarm information may include, for example,location information for the remote patient and an alarm conditionindicated by the one or more physiological parameters for a remotepatient that are outside of a determined range. The alarm unit 154, incooperation with the processor 140, display device 142, and userinterface unit 152, may display the alarm information within the remotemonitoring interface, as described hereafter.

An artisan will recognize from the disclosure herein that the parameteracquisition unit 150, user interface unit 152, and/or alarm unit 154 maybe combined with the processor 140 into a single unit. Further, theprocessor 140, parameter acquisition unit 150, user interface unit 152,and/or alarm unit 154, either combined or separately, may include aspecial purpose processor configured to perform the processes describedherein. In another embodiment, the processor 140, parameter acquisitionunit 150, user interface unit 152, and/or alarm unit 154, eithercombined or separately, may include a general purpose processorconfigured to execute computer-executable instructions (e.g., stored ina computer-readable medium, such as the memory device 144) to performthe processes described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary alarm configuration interface 200 forsetting alarm conditions within a patient monitor, such as the patientmonitor 122 of FIG. 1. In one embodiment, a medical practitioner mayspecify safe ranges for various physiological parameters, outside ofwhich an alarm should be triggered. For instance, the user may specifythat an alarm should be triggered if a patient's systolic pressureexceeds 180 or drops below 80, or if the patient's diastolic pressure isgreater than 100 or less than 50. For certain parameters, the term“range” may be represented as a single value, such as an upper or lowerlimit. Some alarms may be triggered by a combination of parameters beingwithin particular ranges and/or being equal to or exceeding or beinglower than particular thresholds.

In one embodiment, the alarm configuration interface 200 may include avisual representation of various controls or inputs, such as sliders 202or keypads 204, for specifying safe and/or unsafe ranges for specifiedparameters. The range data may be stored, in one embodiment, in thememory device 144 shown in FIG. 1. The configuration of alarms typicallyoccurs on the local patient monitor and each remote patient monitor.

FIG. 3 illustrates a patient parameter interface 300 according to oneembodiment. The patient parameter interface 300 may display waveformsand/or numerical values for a plurality of physiological parametersacquired by the parameter acquisition unit 150 of FIG. 1.

As previously noted, a medical practitioner is typically responsible formultiple patients, many of whom may be in different rooms or wards.Therefore, it is difficult or impossible for a single medicalpractitioner to be physically present at every patient monitor.Accordingly, in one embodiment, a local patient monitor, such as thepatent monitor 122 of FIG. 1, may receive alarm information via thenetwork 128 from a plurality of remote patient monitors 124, 126. Thealarm information may include a location (e.g., bed or room number) ofthe patient, as well as an alarm condition (e.g., tachycardia) triggeredby physiological parameters being monitored by the remote patientmonitors 124, 126.

The local patient monitor 122 may also receive status informationindicative of the remote monitoring status of each of the remote patientmonitors 124, 126 accessible via the network 128. The alarm and statusinformation may be displayed, in one embodiment, within a remotemonitoring interface 302, which may be displayed with, or within, thepatient parameter interface 300. In the illustrated embodiment, theremote monitoring interface 302 may be a region or “tile” within thepatient parameter interface 300.

Referring to FIG. 4, in one operational mode, the remote monitoringinterface 302 may display a plurality of status icons graphicallyindicating the remote monitoring status of a respective remote patientmonitor. For example, one status icon 402 may indicate an activeconnection (communication link) exists between the local patient monitorand the corresponding remote patient monitor. In the example embodiment,the status icon 402 may be represented as a solid shape, such as arounded rectangle, having a suitable color (e.g., green) to graphicallyindicate an active/non-alarm status.

Another status icon 404 may indicate that a connection between the localand remote patient monitor is active, but that alarm information isbeing blocked at the source by the remote patient monitor. This mayoccur, for example, when a medical practitioner needs to disconnect thesensors from a patient while performing tests. To avoid triggering analarm, the medical practitioner may temporarily block outgoing alarmsfrom the remote patient monitor. In one embodiment, the status icon 404may be represented as an “X” that overlays one of the other status iconsdescribed in connection with FIG. 4.

Yet another status icon 406 may indicate that no signal is beingreceived from the corresponding remote patient monitor. This may occurwhen the remote patient monitor has malfunctioned, has been accidentallyor intentionally disconnected from the network, has been powered down,etc. The status icon 404 may be represented, in one embodiment, as anoutline of the same shape as status icon 402.

Still another status icon 408 may indicate that the display of alarminformation from a corresponding remote patient monitor cannot beblocked at the local patient monitor except by a person with particularaccess rights. Referring also to FIG. 5, there is shown a remotemonitoring configuration interface 500 for allowing a medicalpractitioner to specify which remote patient monitors are to berepresented within the remote monitoring interface 302 of FIG. 3. Theremote monitoring configuration interface 500 may provide variouscontrols, such as an “add bed” control 502, for adding a status iconrepresenting a selected remote patient monitor, and a “remove bed”control 504 for removing a status icon representing a selected remotepatient monitor. In one embodiment, alarm information for a remotepatient monitor is only displayed when a corresponding status icon isshown within the remote monitoring interface 302.

In one embodiment, the ability to remove status icons from the remotemonitoring interface 302 via the “remove bed” control 504 may berestricted based on access rights. For example, in some hospitals, anurse supervisor may want to “lock” certain status icons, such thatother medical practitioners cannot delete them from the remotemonitoring interface 302. This may be accomplished, in one embodiment,by activating a “lock” button 506 in connection with the “add bed”button 502. In order to subsequently remove a “locked” status icon, auser may have to specify a password or otherwise establish sufficientaccess rights. Of course, various other methods and user interfacecontrols may be used by a skilled artisan to accomplish similarpurposes.

Referring again to FIG. 4, various combinations of the foregoing statusicons may be provided in one embodiment. For example, one status icon410 may indicate that an active connection exists between the localpatient monitor and the corresponding remote patient monitor and thatdisplay of alarm information from the corresponding remote patientmonitor cannot be blocked at the local patient monitor except by aperson with particular access rights, but that alarm information isbeing blocked at the source.

Another status icon 412 may indicate that no signal is being received bya corresponding remote patient monitor and that alarm information isbeing blocked by the corresponding remote patient monitor. Still anotherstatus icon 414 may indicate that no signal is being received by acorresponding remote patient monitor and that display of alarminformation from the corresponding remote patient monitor cannot beblocked at the local patient monitor except by a person with particularaccess rights. Yet another status icon 416 may indicate that no signalis being received by a corresponding remote patient monitor and thatdisplay of alarm information from the corresponding remote patientmonitor cannot be blocked at the local patient monitor except by aperson with particular access rights, but that alarm information isbeing blocked by the corresponding remote patient monitor.

In one embodiment, the remote monitoring interface 302 may display amessage, icon, or other suitable indication 418 when alarm informationfrom the local patient monitor is being blocked, i.e., is not being sentto one or more remote patient monitors. For example, in FIG. 4, themessage “outgoing blocked” may be used for this purpose. In oneembodiment, the remote monitoring configuration interface 500 of FIG. 5may include a “block outgoing” button 508 to enable blocking of outgoingalarm information.

With continuing reference to FIG. 5, the remote monitoring configurationinterface 500 may further include a “block incoming” button 510 to blockincoming alarm information from one or more remote patient monitors. Theremote monitoring configuration interface 500 may also include a“response” button 512 for tailoring how the alarm information fromremote patient monitors is to be conveyed to the user of the localpatient monitor. Various options may include pop-up windows, audiblealerts, and/or a visual notification within the remote monitoringinterface 300, as described in greater detail below.

Those of skill in the art will recognize that the remote monitoringinterface disclosed above may present to a medical practitioner acomplete view of the status of each patient monitor for which themedical practitioner is responsible. The medical practitioner candetermine at a glance whether any of the patient monitors, for which heor she is responsible, is active, disconnected, blocked, or locked, orany combination of the foregoing. Thus, combined with the facility fordisplaying alarm information from the remote patient monitors, asdetailed hereafter, the medical practitioner need not be physicallypresent at each of the remote patient monitors in order to provide therequisite level of care for each patient.

FIG. 6A illustrates one manner in which alarm information from a remotepatient monitor may be displayed within the remote monitoring interface302. In one embodiment, the local patient monitor may receive alarminformation from a first remote patient monitor indicating that one ormore physiological parameters for a remote patient are outside of apredetermined range. The alarm information may include, for example,location information 602 (e.g., bed or room number) for the remotepatient and an alarm condition 604 (e.g., tachycardia) indicated by theone or more Physiological parameters.

As used herein, the location information 602 may include any indicatoror reference to the patient, his or her physical location, and/or thepatient monitor associated with the patient. The location information602 might be represented, in one embodiment, by contextual information,such as position of an icon, rather than an explicit identifier.

In certain embodiments, the alarm condition 604 may be represented by anindication of severity rather than a specific medical condition. Forinstance, the alarm condition 604 may be color coded (e.g., red is mostsevere, white is least severe) based on different degrees of severity sothat the medical practitioner can decide the level of response neededfor the alarm condition 604.

Thus, a skilled artisan will recognize that references to “location” and“condition” in the disclosure and claims need not be limited to specificlocations and specific conditions, but, rather, information that helpsto locate the patient and information that helps to judge the severityof the condition and/or the level of response required.

The location information 602 and alarm condition 604 may be displayedwithin an icon that fills substantially all of the remote monitoringinterface, partially or completely overlaying the status icons of FIG. 4in one embodiment. The icon may be displayed in a particular color(e.g., red) that contrasts the color (e.g., green) of the status icon402 of FIG. 4. Display of the alarm information in the remote monitoringinterface may be accompanied by other forms of visual or audible alertsto draw the medical practitioner's attention to the remote monitoringinterface.

In certain instances, the local patient monitor may receive multiplesets of alarm information at approximately the same time or receivealarm information from a second remote patient monitor before an alarmtriggered on a first patient monitor has been silenced. In such a case,as shown in FIG. 6B, the remote monitoring interface 302 may displayboth sets of alarm information, dividing itself between displaying thealarm information from the first and second patient monitors (e.g., eachmay fill substantially half of the remote monitoring interface 302). Inthe case of the local patient monitor receiving alarm information from athird patient monitor, the remote monitoring interface 302 may bedivided between displaying alarm information from the first, second, andthird patient monitors (e.g., each may fill substantially a third of theremote monitoring interface).

Depending on the size of the remote monitoring interface 302, it may bedifficult to display more than two sets of alarm information.Accordingly, in one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6C, a “show all” button606 may be provided. In one embodiment, pressing the “show all” button606 may enlarge the remote monitoring interface 302 to overlay a greaterproportion of the patient parameter interface 300 of FIG. 3. In theembodiment of FIG. 3, the remote monitoring interface 302 is restrictedto a small panel or “tile” within the patient parameter interface 300.Pressing the “show all” button 606 may cause all or some of the patientparameters and/or patient monitoring controls to be obscured by thealarm information.

In an alternative embodiment, when the number of concurrent sets ofalarm information exceed a determined threshold, the remote monitoringinterface 302 may cycle between different sets of alarm information ingroups of two or more at a time with some additional indication (color,special icon, sound, etc.) informing the medical practitioner that notall sets of alarm information are being currently displayed.

Alarms may be silenced by a “silence” button 304 (shown in FIG. 3) orthe like. In one embodiment, as alarms are silenced on the variousremote patient monitors, the corresponding sets of alarm information maybe removed from the remote monitoring interface 302. When all of thealarms have been silenced, the remote monitoring interface 302 mayresume displaying the status icons, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method 700 for remotepatient monitoring. At step 702, a local patient monitor may obtainphysiological parameters from a local patient via one or more sensors.At step 704, the local patient monitor may display the physiologicalparameters in a patient parameter interface.

At step 706, the patient monitor may obtain a remote monitoring statusfrom each of a plurality of remote patient monitors. At step 708, thepatient monitor may display a remote monitoring interface with the localpatient's physiological parameters. The remote monitoring interface mayinclude icons respectively representing the remote monitoring status ofa remote patient monitor.

At step 710, the patient monitor may receive alarm information from afirst remote patient monitor indicating that one or more physiologicalparameters for a remote patient are outside of a determined range. Thealarm information may include location information (e.g., bed or roomnumber), as well as an indication of an alarm condition (e.g.,tachycardia). At step 712, the patient monitor may display the alarminformation within the remote monitoring interface.

At step 714, the patient monitor may receive alarm information from asecond remote patient monitor. At step 716, the patient monitor maydivide the remote monitoring interface between displaying alarminformation for the first and second remote patient monitors.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a patient monitoring system 800according to one embodiment. The embodiment shown in FIG. 8 is providedby way of example and an artisan will understand from the disclosurethat any portable patient monitoring system may be used with theembodiments disclosed herein. The system 800 includes a patient monitor122 and a docking station 130. The patient monitor 122 can be configuredto selectively couple with and decouple from the docking station 130.The coupling between the patient monitor 122 and the docking station 130can be mechanical, electrical, optical, and/or any other suitablevariety. For example, the coupling can be for physical union, powertransfer, and/or communication.

The patient monitor 122 may include one or more gripping regions 810,812 that are configured to aid in coupling and decoupling the patientmonitor 122 from the docking station 130. For example, a medicalpractitioner 814 can firmly grasp with his or her hands 816, 818 thegripping regions 810, 812 during removal of the patient monitor 122 fromthe docking station 130. When the patient monitor 122 is separated fromthe docking station 130, the full weight of the patient monitor 122 canbe supported by a grip of the medical practitioner 814 on the grippingregions 810, 812.

The patient monitoring system 800 may include one or more actuators (notshown) which, when actuated, permit release of the patient monitor 122from the docking station 130. The actuators can be integrated into thegripping regions 810, 812 or other portions of the patient monitor 122,so as to permit for convenient and continuous-movement dismounting ofthe patient monitor 122. For example, in some embodiments, apractitioner 814 can actuate an actuator using a hand 816, 818 whilethat hand 816, 818 is simultaneously holding a respective grippingregion 810, 812.

In FIG. 8, the patient monitor 122 is illustrated as having been removedfrom the docking station 130. A front surface of the patient monitor 122can include a display device 142 that is configured to displayinformation in a visually perceivable format. The display device 142 maybe of any suitable variety, including those presently known and thoseyet to be devised. For example, the display device 142 may include aliquid crystal display (LCD) panel. In some embodiments, the displaydevice 142 may be configured to receive information or otherwiseinteract with a medical practitioner. For example, the display device142 may include a touch screen.

In some embodiments, the display device 142 is configured to displayinformation in a predetermined orientation that correlates with adocking orientation of the patient monitor 122. Information can bedisplayed on the display device 142 in an upright orientation when thepatient monitor 122 is coupled with the docking station 130. Forexample, in the configuration depicted in FIG. 8, text, graphs, or otherinformation can be displayed via the screen 142 in a “portrait”orientation that is natural for reading.

The patient monitor 122 may include one or more ports for receiving ordelivering information, which can include one or more serial ports, USBports, Ethernet ports, DVI ports, or any other suitable variety ofports, interfaces, or connectors. In some embodiments, informationreceived via one or more of the ports can be displayed on the screen142.

At least a portion of the information displayed by the patient monitor122 may represent information received from a patient or that otherwiserelates to the patient. For example, in some embodiments, one or moresensors (not shown) are connected to the patient to sense a particularparameter, and information obtained via the one or more sensors. Thesensors may deliver information to the patient monitor 122 via one ormore cables (not shown) connected to one or more ports.

The patient monitor 122 may be configured to both mechanically andelectrically couple with the docking station 130. The patient monitor122 may receive power from the docking station 130, which itself canreceive power from a power source (not shown) via a power line or cord.The power source may include, for example, the AC wiring of a hospital.

The docking station 130 may be mounted in a substantially fixedposition. For example, the docking station 130 may be rigidly mounted toa wall within a hospital room in a single position by one or moreplates, brackets, screws, bolts, or other mounting hardware andattachment devices. As another example, the docking station 130 may beconfigured to transition among multiple fixed positions. For example, inthe illustrated embodiment, the docking station 130 is coupled to amounting strip 822, which is in turn mounted to a wall (not shown) of ahospital room. The docking station 130 is capable of being adjustedupward or downward along a path constrained by one or more channelsdefined by the mounting strip 822 so as to transition among a variety ofpositions. In each such position, the docking station 130 can be fixedrelative to the mounting strip 822. In some embodiments, the dockingstation 130 is coupled with the mounting strip 822 via a mounting plateor a mounting bracket (not shown), the position of which can be adjustedupward or downward within the channels in any suitable manner.

In other embodiments, the docking station 130 may be secured to ahospital bed (not shown), a mechanical arm (not shown), or any othersuitable object. In some embodiments, a bottom surface of the dockingstation 130 is positioned at a height of from about five feet to aboutsix feet above a floor of a hospital room, so as to allow the patientmonitor 122 to be viewed easily and/or to avoid interference with otherobjects in the room.

FIG. 9 is a depicts a patient monitoring system 122 including a patientparameter interface 300 according to one embodiment. As illustrated, afront surface of the patient monitor 122 may include a display device142 that is configured to display information in a visually perceivableformat. For example, the display device 142 may be configured to displaya patient parameter interface 300. As discussed above, the displaydevice 142 may be of any suitable variety, including those presentlyknown and those yet to be devised. For example, the display device 142may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. In some embodiments,the display device 142 may be configured to receive information orotherwise interact with a medical practitioner. For example, the displaydevice 142 may include a touch screen.

The patient parameter interface 300 may display patient parameterinformation including, for example, one or more waveform representationsof patient parameter information and/or one or more patient parameternumerical values. The patient parameter information may be related toone or more patient physiological parameters acquired by the parameteracquisition unit 150 of FIG. 1. In certain embodiments the displaydevice 142 is configured to display information, including the patientparameter interface 300, in a predetermined orientation that correlateswith a docking orientation of the patient monitor 122. Specifically, asillustrated, information can be displayed on the display device 142 inan upright orientation (i.e., in a display area having a verticaldimension that is larger than a horizontal dimension) when the patientmonitor 122 is coupled with a docking station. For example, in theconfiguration depicted in FIG. 9, text, graphs, or other information canbe displayed via the screen 142 in a upright “portrait” orientation thatis natural for reading.

Waveforms representing patient parameters may be displayed on thepatient parameter interface 300 in one or more vertically-alignedrectangular regions 902-910. As illustrated, each of thevertically-aligned rectangular regions 902-910 may display a patientparameter waveform and one or more related patient parameter numericalvalues. For example, as shown in vertically-aligned rectangular region902, an electrocardiogram waveform and an corresponding pulse rate(e.g., a pulse rate in beats-per-minute) may be displayed. In certainembodiments, a time parameter of the patient parameter waveforms may bedisplayed horizontally within the vertically-aligned rectangular regions902-910. Accordingly, when the display device 142 is in an uprightorientation, patient parameter waveforms may be displayed horizontallyacross the patient parameter interface 300.

In certain embodiments, orienting the display device 142 in an uprightorientation allows for a larger number of vertically-aligned rectangularregions, and thus a larger number of patient parameter waveforms, to bedisplayed on the patient parameter interface 300 than if the displaydevice 142 was oriented in a non-upright orientation. Particularly, asorienting the display device 142 in an upright orientation allows for anincreased vertical dimension of the displayed patient parameterinterface 300, more vertically-aligned waveforms may be displayed on theinterface 300 in this orientation. While orienting the display device142 in an upright orientation may reduce the length of the horizontallydisplayed time parameters of the patient parameter waveforms, the addedbenefit of displaying a greater number of patient parameter waveformsmay be beneficial to a clinical practitioner.

As discussed above, the patient monitor 122 may be configured to bothmechanically and electrically couple with a docking station 130, asillustrated in FIG. 8. In certain embodiments, the docking station 130may be mounted on a wall within a hospital room. Alternatively, thedocking station 130 may be mounted on a movable stand. A room in whichthe patient monitor 122 is utilized (e.g., an operating room) may have alimited size and, accordingly, mounting the docking station 130 and thecoupled patient monitor 122 in an upright orientation may moreefficiently utilize available space. Further, if the docking station 130is mounted on a wall or a stand in conjunction with other verticallyaligned equipment, coupling the patient monitor 122 to the dockingstation 130 in an upright orientation may allow for easier user accessbehind the patient monitor 122 for cable routing between equipment andthe like.

In certain embodiments, the display device 142 included in the patientmonitor 122 may have omni-directional visibility and be capable of beingviewed from a wide variety of angles. In some embodiments, backlightinverters (not shown) included in the display device 142 may be orientedin a manner allowing for their normal operation (e.g., horizontally). Inother embodiments, the display device 142 may be lit usinglight-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Patient identification information including, for example, a patientname (e.g., Smith John) and/or identification number (e.g., 1427-A) maybe displayed on the patient parameter interface 300. In certainembodiments, the patient identification information may be displayed inan upper region of the patient parameter interface 300. As illustrated,the one or more vertically-aligned rectangular regions 902-910displaying one or more patient parameter waveforms may be displayed inan upper region of the patient parameter interface 300 immediately belowthe patient identification region.

As previously discussed, the patient parameter interface 300 may includea remote monitoring interface 302, which may be displayed within aregion of the patient parameter interface 300. In certain embodiments,the remote monitoring interface 302 may visually display patientparameter information (e.g., waveforms and/or numerical values) relatingto one or more physiological parameters of a remote patient. Asillustrated, the remote monitoring interface 302 may be displayed belowthe vertically-aligned rectangular regions 902-910 on the patientparameter interface 300.

The patient parameter interface 300 may further include one or moreuser-selectable interface buttons in an interface region 912 of thepatient parameter interface 300. The interface region 912 may bedisplayed in a lower region of the patient parameter interface 300. Inembodiments where the display device 142 is a touch screen display, theuser-selectable interface buttons of the interface region 912 may beoperated by touching the buttons on the display device 142. Asillustrated, the user-selectable interface buttons may include, forexample, a function menu button, a print menu button, a setup menubutton, a tools menu button, a procedures menu button, an alarms menubutton, and the like. In certain embodiments, when one of theuser-selected interface buttons is selected, a further set ofuser-selectable interface buttons (e.g., a sub-menu) may be displayed inthe interface region 912

In some embodiments, a region of the patient parameter interface 300 maybe used to display one or more secondary applications. For example, incertain embodiments, when a user-selectable interface button is selectedby a user, a secondary application may be opened. For example, when aparticular user-selected interface button is selected, a secondaryapplication that provides access to a patient information database maybe displayed in a region of the patient parameter interface. In someembodiments, secondary applications may be displayed in a lower regionof the patient parameter interface 300.

As discussed above, orienting the display device 142 in an uprightorientation allows for an increased vertical dimension of the displayedpatient parameter interface 300. In certain embodiments, orienting thedisplay device 142 in an upright orientation may also allow for one ormore secondary applications to be displayed in a region of the patientparameter interface 300 (e.g., in a lower region) without substantiallyreducing the number of patient parameter waveforms and patient parameternumerical values displayed on the patient parameter interface 300.

It will be understood by those having skill in the art that many changesmay be made to the details of the above-described embodiments withoutdeparting from the underlying principles of the invention. The scope ofthe present invention should, therefore, be determined only by thefollowing claims.

1. A patient monitoring system comprising: a parameter acquisition unitconfigured to acquire one or more data signals regarding one or morephysiological parameters of a patient; a processing unit communicativelycoupled with the parameter acquisition unit configured to process theone or more data signals and to generate parameter information relatedto the one or more physiological parameters based on the one or moredata signals, the parameter information comprising a plurality ofparameter waveforms and a plurality of parameter numerical values; amemory unit communicatively coupled with the processing unit and theparameter acquisition unit configured to store the parameterinformation; and a display unit configured in an upright orientation andcommunicatively coupled with the processing unit, the display unit beingconfigured to: visually display at least one parameter waveform of theplurality of parameter waveforms and at least one parameter numericalvalue of the plurality of parameter numerical values in one of aplurality of vertically-aligned rectangular regions on the patientparameter interface, the vertically-aligned rectangular regions beingdisplayed in an upper region of the patient parameter interface; andvisually display one or more user selectable interface buttons in aninterface region on the patient parameter interface, the interfaceregion being displayed in a lower region of the patient parameterinterface.
 2. The patient monitoring system of claim 1, wherein thepatient parameter interface comprises a display area having a verticaldimension that is larger than a horizontal dimension.
 3. The patientmonitoring system of claim 1, wherein the one or more physiologicalparameters comprise one or more of a patient pulse rate, temperature,respiration rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen level, andelectrocardiogram.
 4. The patient monitoring system of claim 1, whereinthe display unit is further configured to visually display remotepatient parameter information relating to one or more physiologicalparameters of a remote patient in a remote patient region of the patientparameter interface.
 5. The patient monitoring system of claim 1,wherein the display unit comprises a touch screen display.
 6. Thepatient monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the display unit isfurther configured to visually display at least one secondaryapplication in a region of the patient parameter interface.
 7. A methodcomprising: acquiring, by a parameter acquisition unit, one or more datasignals regarding one or more physiological parameters of a patient;generating, by a processing unit, parameter information relating to theone or more physiological parameters based on the one or more datasignals, the parameter information comprising a plurality of parameterwaveforms and a plurality of parameter numerical values; storing, in amemory unit, the parameter information; displaying at least oneparameter waveform of the plurality of parameter waveforms and at leastone parameter numerical value of the plurality of parameter numericalvalues in one of a plurality of vertically-aligned rectangular regionson a patient parameter interface included on a display unit configuredin an upright orientation, the vertically-aligned rectangular regionsbeing displayed in an upper region of the patient parameter interface;and displaying one or more user selectable interface buttons in aninterface region on the patient parameter interface, the interfaceregion being displayed in a lower region of the patient parameterinterface.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the patient parameterinterface comprises a display area having a vertical dimension that islarger than a horizontal dimension.
 9. The method of claim 7, whereinthe one or more physiological parameters comprise one or more of apatient pulse rate, temperature, respiration rate, blood pressure, bloodoxygen level, and electrocardiogram.
 10. The method of claim 7, whereinthe method further comprises displaying remote patient parameterinformation relating to one or more physiological parameters of a remotepatient in a remote patient region of the patient parameter interface.11. The method of claim 7, wherein the display unit comprises a touchscreen display.
 12. The patient monitoring system of claim 7, whereinthe method further comprises displaying at least one secondaryapplication in a region of the patient parameter interface.
 13. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, are configured to cause theprocessor to perform a method, the method comprising: receiving one ormore data signals regarding one or more physiological parameters of apatient; generating parameter information relating to the one or morephysiological parameters based on the one or more data signals theparameter information comprising a plurality of parameter waveforms anda plurality of parameter numerical values; storing the parameterinformation in a memory unit; and controlling a display unit configuredin an upright orientation to: display at least one parameter waveform ofthe plurality of parameter waveforms and at least one parameternumerical value of the plurality of parameter numerical values in one ofa plurality of vertically-aligned rectangular regions on the patientparameter interface, the vertically-aligned rectangular regions beingdisplayed in an upper region of the patient parameter interface; anddisplay one or more user selectable interface buttons in an interfaceregion on the patient parameter interface, the interface region beingdisplayed in a lower region of the patient parameter interface.
 14. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein thepatient parameter interface comprises a display area having a verticaldimension that is larger than a horizontal dimension.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein theone or more physiological parameters comprise one or more of a patientpulse rate, temperature, respiration rate, blood pressure, blood oxygenlevel, and electrocardiogram.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprisescontrolling the display unit to display remote patient parameterinformation relating to one or more physiological parameters of a remotepatient in a remote patient region of the patient parameter interface.17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13,wherein the display unit comprises a touch screen display.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein themethod further comprises controlling the display unit to display atleast one secondary application in a region of the patient parameterinterface